[OT from cottage renovations]

my favourite grad student blew into town last night; his trek down from Gotham brought him into the Grove after midnight.  he brought a small mountain of dirty laundry (already washed), an appetite (seen to in the short run by a late dinner) and a ton of school work (which he will be tackling over the next few days before he goes back). 

it is such a pleasure to have him back.  there's nothing like the return of family to put one into the right mode for the holiday. 

[OT from cottage renovations]

do it yourself

Alice's large plant has moved up in the world cottage ...

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... leaving a lot more space in the front room and subtracting less than I had anticipated from the loft. 

[OT from cottage renovations]

the Grove's hostas often have variegated leaves, some of them quite spectacular.  give them enough time and the hydrangeas can often do nearly as well though only at end of life. 

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Bittersweet Cottage garden

Monday's watery sunlight passing through the same leaf as seen against different backgrounds. 

hydrangea

this is in its own way an historic event: the first time that stupid T-111 siding on the newer parts of the place has been useful for anything. 

[OT from cottage renovations]

in the side yard there's a forsythia that often fumbles the seasonal transitions by flowering in the fall as well as in the spring. 

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Bittersweet Cottage garden

forsythia

[OT from cottage renovations]

it's been three decades since relocating from southern California (it's interesting that one says "out West" and "back East" but never the other way around) and though for quite some time I maintained a bi-coastal life and outlook, somewhere along the way the centre of gravity shifted this way; nowadays when I'm out there for one or another reason the place has become quite unfamiliar and one feels closer to what it once was than to what it has become. 

even so, the experience of living there is transformational and one needn't be an NSGW to have some form of attachments that persist across space and time. 

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not quite in the Grove, but just across the tracks, next to Hershey's parking lot a clump of California poppies has settled in from goodness-knows-where and is happily in full bloom even in early November.  though quite common out there it is remarkable to find them around here and for once my usual horrified reaction to invasive species is overridden by welcome.  they are notoriously difficult to transplant so these must have shown up as seeds; as to their manner of arrival one can only speculate. 

I've kept an eye on these for a couple of weeks and last Sunday I finally went down there for a closer look in the last of the afternoon light. 

( +4 )


eschscholzia californica

[OT from cottage renovations]

last weekend provided an opportunity for a day trip to visit my favourite graduate student up in New York; I had been meaning to go up for the purpose sooner, but the demands of his academic schedule have been running him pretty ragged and it took rather a while for his schedule to clear up. 

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Newark NJ

• fast running: even the regional trains spend much of the time cruising in the 125 mph range.  this wasn't immediately obvious but I was using the opportunity to test a GPS equipped PDA for work. 
• density: even on a Saturday scads of commuter trains serve the Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York markets.  they do this all the time and it's taken for granted by the many riders but the reminder is salutary for those of us from the hinterlands. 
• the wonderful contradiction posed by this signage in the Newark NJ station:

(image crossposted to doorwindowwall)

I'm guessing the rest of us are supposed to wait outside the waiting room. 
or not wait. 
or something. 

New York

the first time I got there, it was too late. 
not a problem with the train, which the Penn Central had brought in right on time; but it was two years after the station was demolished.  Pennsylvania Station was designed for a 500-year service life but lasted only a tenth of that and the vestigial rail terminals make no sense without everything that once stood above ground to pull them together. 

as a result I've never had much use for Madison Square Garden though I do seem to recall watching the Russian Circus perform there in the early 1970s.  ducking up to street level the most bizarre facility reuse became obvious: a new bumper car concession.
finally, something useful:

except that, whoops, it was just a small herd of forklifts for some passing show's roadies.  nonetheless, as so often happens, consolation was to be found in detail:

it's always so cool to see a buccaneer-American (we do prefer the hyphenated form, thank you) getting in touch with his or her inner piratical self. 

so the obvious question arose: what to do?  the Wonder Boy expressed a wish to visit the airport that never was, so off we headed to check out what might remain of the airship terminal that was planned and actually built (but never used) atop the Empire State Building.  yeah, an obviously cheesy touristy thing to do, but what's the harm in that? 

the 86^th floor observation deck was supposed to hold a ticket counter, passenger lobby and customs area.  however iconic the view there's no reason not to stop and look gawk. 

(image crossposted to doorwindowwall)

the arrival and departure gate was a small round room on the 102^nd floor.  the hoped-for airships never came (however cool it was actually a pretty stupid idea) and the space ended up housing radio and television transmitters.  lots of them.  accordingly there's one heck of an antenna farm up there; here's a bit of detail of the top of just one:

(image crossposted to itsinthedetails)

the increased elevation provides an even better view: looking to the S a famous silhouette stands in the harbour:

before we leave, just one for the camera ...

Central Park is visible in the distance to the R; his student apartment would be a bit above the outer edge of the hood of his sweatshirt. 

[OT from cottage renovations]

a few weekends ago a working party in the East Woods provided the opportunity for some incidental photots -- incidental because by the time I wandered over there it was mostly over. 

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East Woods

let the chips fly	slow release

[OT from cottage renovations]

one of the high points of the reception following the halloween parade came when the children sat down in a circle for a spooky story -- with a tactile and olfactory overlay that produced these facial expressions:

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M^cCathran Hall

[OT from cottage renovations]

it's taken a rainy day off to get around to putting up these images, which means that by now they have shifted from current events into the historical record. 

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Woodward Park -> Oak Street -> Grove Avenue

the mask	starship trooper of the galaxy rangers

Porter ...

... about to strike

go-go girl	spinning a web? or trapped in one?	a skeleton most piratical

a cure for ambleopia


pensive

[OT from cottage renovations]

(adapted from a comment left in gracegiver's journal)

when I was a kid my dad worked for General Electric; the corporate culture contained a strong holdover of the long-running rivalry with Westinghouse that had as its origin the personal animosity between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse. 

habits when deeply ingrained are difficult to overcome, and for me one of them is that whenever I need a light bulb of course it has to have the G.E. logo on it.  the problem is that around here most of the retail outlets have taken to carrying Sylvania ones instead.  logic and reason dictate that those non-brand bulbs are not in any technical way deficient, but even so I can't bring myself to buy one.  standing in the supermarket aisle and reaching out my hand for a light bulb, but not being able to muster enough force of will to actually place that competitor's product in the basket, I am struck by the incongruity of the situation even as I am powerless to change it.  this is habit of long standing: my father left G.E. back in the 1970s and passed away 17 years ago. 

a Westinghouse light bulb? 
no way.  no effin' way. 

[OT from cottage renovations]

one afternoon of non-rain was all it took to allow some beautiful light. 

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the Circle

Japanese Maple leaves when stacked allow layers of light to create compositions like this. 

acer palmatum

M^cCathran Hall grounds

this oak leaf with acorn cap is about as evocative of the Grove as anything could get. 

quercus

Upper Field

the bittersweet seems to be coming along sooner than usual this year -- or perhaps I just haven't been paying enough attention to the passage of time. 

celastrus orbicalatus

---

this corner of the upper field is slated for residential development at the hands of the Toll Bros.  my own (and strong) preference is for it to stay the way it is, but that doesn't seem to be an option.  this view won't last much longer; that it remains at all is an artifact of recent economic distress. 

Ridge Road

Ridge Road has two sharp bends, the first of which exceeds 90° and is colloquially known as "big bend".  before the Town got around to resolving drainage issues the body of water that could be found there after a goodly rain was known as "big bend lake". 

big bend is marked by this large maple, caught at its brilliant best in Sunday afternoon's sweetlight.  for me even the power lines don't detract from the setting, rather they seem to help frame the treetop. 

acer

[OT from cottage renovations]

new camera, trying to get the hang of which by way of these test shots taken last Friday. 

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Ridge Road

leaf on hydrant


texture detail of same


fallen leaf

[OT from cottage renovations]

today is Tuesday, 22 September.  make a note of it. 
the autumnal equinox has passed, meaning that the centre of gravity of the cycle of days and nights has passed the midpoint of the annual slide away from warmth and light into their opposites.  autumn and winter have much else to recommend them but this particular aspect of the seasons is never one to which I have ever been able to look forward with any enthusiasm as it is always a struggle to keep mood and spirit from following Persephone into the darkness below. 

though not given to seeing signs in natural phenomena, nonetheless this evening was quite extraordinary: having taken the last train out from the city, the walk home from our little station passing through that last stage of dusk during which night sets in.  down at the other end of Grove Road (note again today's date) the distinctive flash and movements of Photinus pyralis, the common Eastern firefly, instantly commanded my attention.  it was odd enough for this year's firefly season to extend as it did through August and into the first couple of days of September; I had seen three at the intersection of 2^nd and Grove Avenues three weeks ago and another out back the following weekend. 

but in all my years in the Grove I have never, ever seen them this late. 
it's difficult to be anything other than cheered by this off-seasonal display. 

from the E.T.C. comes the following text message:

     glass is in

the context: the glass ordered for the storm windows has arrived at his shop.  next step: setting it into the frames.  having actual working storm windows in place for the coming winter could make a tremendous difference around here as it has been demonstrated that screens do not provide effective thermal retention. 

the prospect is quite encouraging indeed. 

[OT from cottage renovations]

the porch cam generally shows cat activity, or sometimes the goings on of squirrels.  now and then it even catches a lightning strike. 

this visitor is a bit less common. 

[OT from cottage renovations]

... so please exercise discretion in choosing with whom to share this item. 

[OT from cottage renovations]

now and then it happens that interesting pieces of information come together from several directions into a single event. 

here's a good example:  a recently released study of satellite imagery reveals remarkably detailed traces of Altinum, a Roman city once located along the shore of the Lagoon of Venice. 

image: Andrea Ninfo et al., Science (31 July 2009)

for quick summaries of the study see "Ancient Roman City Rises Again" in the AAAS daily news, supplemented by further image analysis in "Altinum revealed... and in Google Earth" on Ogle Earth. 
 

the subject matter, the location (ah, Venice), the integration of remote sensing technology with geospatial data, even a .PDF with details on the methods used (false colour crop images reveal more data during drought conditions, and it helps to have access to archives with maps covering the last couple of centuries to filter out the more contemporary features). 

all of these are interesting in their own right, but it's when they all come together that it really works. 
if nothing else I hope it encourages a certain graduate student who is trying to reconcile his interests in history and in space technology.  they don't need to be separate, not at all. 

[OT from cottage renovations]

Alain de Botton: The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (ISBN 978-0-375-4244-1)

[OT from cottage renovations]

Monteverdi's Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (the Return of Ulysses) dates back to 1640; having missed its opening in Venice by some 369 years the next best thing was to catch the Wolf Trap Opera Company's ongoing production. 

by way of spanning the centuries the staging was quite modern -- necessitated to a great extent by a venue that in comparison to most opera halls is quite small -- and the costuming current indeed: think Goth + Steampunk and you'll get the general idea, along with a great deal of black leather. 

it took a bit of getting used to but it worked surprisingly well. 

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four Olympians: Giunone, Giove, Minerva, Nettuno Minerva

[images: Wolf Trap Opera blog]

(not pictured: Penelope, who I'm not sure Monteverdi would have imagined in black lipstick)